Lunch Box
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[Photograph: Suzanne Lehrer]

Few things improve overnight quite like chimichurri sauce. If you taste your sauce straight out of the blender, it's guaranteed to taste of garlic, herbs, or vinegar, but not a harmonious blend of all three. Come morning, it's another story altogether.

As with pesto, there will be those in the camp of hand-chopping all of the sauce's ingredients. But those people probably aren't trying to throw a lunch together in 30 minutes or less. Having done it both ways, tossing everything into the blender without gingerly slicing your parsley will yield (quick) flavorful results. Here, I've made my chimichurri a little bit thicker to prevent running and separating the next day when mixed into the corn.

Corn and shrimp are the perfect backdrops for bright, tangy chimichurri, and this salad is meant to be eaten at room temperature (note: picnic friendly). Make a large batch and slather it on steaks and fish all grilling season long.

About the Author: Suzanne Lehrer is a writer and recipe developer in New York and a recipe editor for Cooking Channel. When not curating her budding hot sauce collection, she puts her French Culinary Institute education to good use in kitchens all around town. Follow her recipes and cooking adventures at TheSuzChef.com and on twitter @the_suzchef.

Every recipe we publish is tested, tasted, and Serious Eats-approved by our staff. Never miss a recipe again by following @SeriousRecipes on Twitter!

About This Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 large red bell pepper
  • 4 teaspoons plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 bulb fennel, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 ears corn, shucked
  • 10 to 12 medium shrimp, shells on
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves
  • 1 cup parsley leaves
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
  • 1 medium clove garlic, smashed into a paste (about 1 teaspoon)

Procedures

  1. Preheat broiler. Rub bell pepper skin with 2 teaspoons oil, and toss fennel with another 2 teaspoons oil and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Lay pepper and fennel, in single layer, on foil-lined baking sheet. Broil, stirring fennel and rotating pepper, until pepper skin is charred and cracked and fennel is just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Let pepper cool, then peel skin, discard seeds and finely chop.

  2. Meanwhile, bring medium pot of water to boil with butter and large pinch salt. Boil corn cobs until kernels turn bright yellow, 3 to 4 minutes, then remove. Turn heat down to simmer and add shrimp. Simmer gently until just bright pink, about 3 minutes, then run under very cold water, peel shells and devein. Cut kernels off corn and mix in bowl with shrimp, fennel and bell peppers. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

  3. For chimichurri, combine cilantro, parsley, 1/4 cup oil, vinegar, chili flakes and garlic in blender or food processor and pulse until combined but a bit chunky; season with pinch salt. Refrigerate chimichurri overnight; before eating or taking to go, fold into corn and shrimp salad.